Prime Minister David Cameron made an emotional appeal yesterday for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom, warning Scots a vote for independence would undermine Britain’s global clout and imperil its financial and political stability.
Speaking in London, Cameron, an Englishman whose Conservative party has only one of 59 UK-wide seats in Scotland, made his most passionate defence yet of the UK, which comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“We would be deeply diminished without Scotland,” Cameron told an audience in the cavernous London velodrome used for the 2012 Olympic Games, saying he would fight with all he had to hold the country he governs together.
“Together, we get a seat at the UN Security Council, real clout in Nato and Europe, and the prestige to host events like the G8. Make no mistake: we matter more as a United Kingdom – politically, militarily, diplomatically and culturally too.
“If we lost Scotland, if the UK changed, we would rip the rug from under our own reputation.”
Scots will decide in a referendum on September 18 whether their nation, which has a population of just over five million and is a source of North Sea oil, should end its 307-year-old union with England and leave the UK.
Cameron said a “yes” vote would imperil Britain’s stability and foreign direct investment.
“We are quite simply stronger as a bigger entity,” he said. “That stability is hugely attractive for investors. Last year, we were the top destination for foreign direct investment in Europe. That is a stamp of approval on our stability – and I would not want to jeopardise that.”
It would be extremely difficult to make a currency union with an independent Scotland work, he added, casting further doubt on one of the pro-independence camp’s main policy ideas.
We are quite simply stronger as a bigger entity
Political analysts say a “yes” vote would place the future of Britain’s Scotland-based nuclear submarine fleet in doubt and could weaken London’s claim to a permanent seat on the UNand its influence in the EU.
People close to Cameron say he does not want to go down in history as the prime minister who lost Scotland. But he has conceded that his privileged background and centre-right politics mean he isn’t the best person to win over Scots, usually more left-wing than the English.
Polls show Scots would vote to reject independence if a vote were held today.